a kind of valentine

Tonight I was settling down with a glass of wine and “War and Peace,” and it struck me that both things started with ‘w,’ and that I loved both things. These are the kinds of patterns that obsess me. So I decided to separate all the things I loved by the letter they began with. Some of these things I will probably love forever, some of them might be passing fads. I might have to edit this tomorrow. I limited myself to six things, max, after the letter B exploded. But c’mon, could you cut any of those B-things?

A
award shows
Abraham Lincoln
Amazon.com
Atlanta
authors
amusement parks
accordions
alt-country or Americana or whatever you want to call it

B
beer
bookstores
Bev Night (RIP)
Bruce Springsteen
board games
beaches
Bojangle’s
Barack Obama
brothers
barbeque
breakfast
boats
bars

C
concerts
cousins
celebrity gossip
coffee shops
cake

D
dairy products
diet dr. pepper
Dad
David Letterman
Dinosaur Comics
dishwashers

E
email
Emory
the Episcopal Church
earrings
Easter
Edelweiss (the song)

F
farmers’ markets
folk music
fingernail polish
flip-flops
Funfetti cake

G
Google
Gone with the Wind
gnomes
Girl Scouts
gummy bears
grudges

H
horoscopes
history
happy hours
holidays
hors d’oeuvres

I
Italy
ice cream
independence
internet

J
John Cusack
Juno
journals
Japanese gardens
junky antique stores

K
Krispy Kremes
Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy
Kleenex
“knocking around”
kopek (the word)

L
Larry David
Lenox Square food court
lists
libraries
living on the top floor
lyrics

M
magazines
mountains
margaritas
Mom
mix CD’s
museums
movies

N
neighborhoods
nachos
naps
nicknames

O
omelets
oceans
office supplies
onions
orange juice

P
pizza
popes
presidents
puzzles
parties

Q
quips
quotes
QI, the best Scrabble word ever
quarters
quilts
quiet

R
road trips
Rolling Stone
recommendations
rain

S
smoothies
sneakers
sweatshirts
Stephen Colbert
sales
stationary

T
trivia
tv show theme songs
trains
traveling
Target

U
uncles
unabridged books
underwear

V
vacation
vegging out
vomit (sometimes)
Vatican City

W
wine
War and Peace
waffles
Warren Zevon
walks

X
xerox machines
xylophone use in the song “Mamma Mia” by Abba

Y
York Peppermint Patties
Yoga
YouTube

Z
I don’t like anything to do with the letter Z.